Clean Energy Council (CEC) Chief Executive Kane Thornton said the intent of the programme is welcome, but the monthly cap of 3333 rebates for home solar systems is stifling the solar industry.
“We urge Premier Andrews to reduce the value of each rebate to make more rebates available, or to reduce the income threshold for eligibility so that the rebate is available to fewer customers” said Mr Thornton. “This would lessen the impact of the programme on the Victorian solar industry. Solar businesses are being forced to lay off workers and scale back their operations because of the devastating boom-bust cycle that has been created. Some have told us they will have to close their business because they don’t have enough cash flow to keep the doors open. It’s heart-breaking stuff. The program was designed to support the industry but unfortunately is having the opposite effect. We have highlighted our concerns with the Premier and the government. The need for action is urgent. Because the eligibility criteria are wide enough to include most home owners, people are delaying their purchase while they wait for the limited pool of rebates available each month”.
Thornton added that the industry has endured months of stopping and starting and the situation is really starting to bite. It is important that the Victorian Premier starts to listen to the many small businesses who are just trying to make a go of it but are being driven to the wall.
Mr Thornton said there are a number of ways Premier Andrews could remove the artificial cap such as:
reducing the annual income eligibility threshold
increasing the number of rebates available by reducing the value of each rebate
bringing forward future rebates to remove the months of pent-up demand which is causing big problems.
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